Mixed-community pathfinders win in Treasury spending spree...

Officials have admitted that the chancellor has accepted the need for “the large sums” that would be necessary to fund such a programme. It would be in addition to the existing neighbourhood renewal fund administered by the ODPM.

The fund would depend on the success of nine mixed-community pathfinder projects – six of which were unveiled in Wednesday’s Budget – that have been established by the Treasury (HT 10 December 2004, page 7).

The pathfinders are based on the Hope VI model in the USA and aim to construct private housing to break up single-tenure housing estates.

The Treasury and ODPM have yet to identify the six new schemes but it is understood they will be spread around the UK’s most deprived areas. The existing three are in Harpurhey in Manchester, Gipton in Leeds and Canning Town in east London.

A Whitehall source said: “If it work, this is something that we would want to see happening in every area that is appropriate.”

Gordon Brown also launched a shared equity scheme to help 20,000 first-time buyers purchase their homes. The details are still being finalised but it is expected that the buyer would find a home and the government – jointly with mortgage lenders – would fund 25% of the cost.

Merron Simpson, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The nine mixed-communities pilots are welcome, however mixing tenures should be set as a public service agreement target. Ultimately this would allow a mixing of tenures on some of the UK’s most deprived estates.”